Eating Healthy on a Budget

A healthy diet can be inexpensive, depending on the food choices a person makes. The key is shopping for low-cost, healthy food. This is much easier to do than you may think! Here are some tips for eating healthy on a budget.

Plan your meals: The first thing we do before grocery shopping is planning out our meals for the week. This helps us put our grocery list together and keeps us from buying things that sound good while were at the store. We will quickly look at our pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to see if we can use what we already have.  We also will look at the ad and see what fruit and vegetables are on sale that week. This week grapes were on sale so we picked up a full bag.  We usually only buy what is on our grocery list. However, it is easy to get sidetracked once at the grocery store and this is where the grocery bill can add up with unintended purchases. Pro tip! Do not go to the grocery store hungry! This causes everything to sound good and you end up leaving with multiple things that you don't need!  Frozen Produce: ​Frozen fruits and vegetables are cheap and nutritious. You can add frozen produce to make smoothies, top on yogurt, and add them to your favorite dishes. Frozen vegetables are super quick to prepare and taste great! You can generally get a bag of frozen veggies for less than a dollar which is some huge savings compared to their fresh counterparts. Being frozen also allows them to be kept for much longer. Frozen fruits are similar to frozen veggies, however you can use them in so many different ways! So next time you are at the grocery, buy a bag of frozen produce, you may be surprised just how many different ways you can use it!

Cooking at Home: Cooking at home is a great way to save money! Making your own food lets you know exactly what is in your food. You can control the amount of fat, sodium, or whatever the ingredient is. This also lets you cut out the sneaky sugar and other additives that companies generally put into their foods.​​ If you have the time on the weekend to cook in bulk, this is a great way to meal prep and save some precious time during the week. It will also help with the urge to eat out. We love using our crock pot to make things in bulk that we can eat throughout the week. Using this has saved us a ton of time and is very easy to use.  ​Junk Food: Junk food can be ridiculously expensive at times. A bag of chips is around $3 or so depending on where you shop. A 10 lb. bag of potatoes is around $3. You can make mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato soup, and even your own baked fries with 10 lb. bag of potatoes. This bag will last you much longer than the bag of potato chips and offers so many healthy alternatives. Now lets not kid ourselves, that bag of chips can be delicious. But ask yourself this: Am I going to feel better eating a potato fried in old oil, or a potato that I made myself? I think we all know the answer to that one. The appeal of junk food is that they are convenient and require no cooking skills. However cooking your own food can be extremely rewarding. And Not only will you be starting to live a healthier life, your wallet will thank you too! Eating healthy does not need to break the bank. You don't have to buy organic this or gluten free that to live your best life. With a few simple steps like, planning ahead, you can start to save money while also starting to eat right. If you are in need of a few recipe suggestions to get ready for the upcoming week checkout some of our other articles!